The present invention relates generally to accessories for swimming pools and, more particularly, to coverings therefor.
Cleaning swimming pools has always been an unpleasant and time-consuming chore, the task being made worse by neglect during winter months. Debris floating atop a pool is usually skimmed with a net mounted at the end of a pole. Material submerged at the bottom is best handled with a suction device. Of course, an adequate cover can greatly reduce the effort required to fetch unwanted debris such as leaves and tree branches from a swimming pool.
Over time, many cover designs have been proposed for swimming pools. Some include rigid frames that suspend a tarpaulin over water. Unfortunately, these designs have permitted the tarpaulins to sag and collect precipitation and debris and sometimes fail under load. Others of these designs have been cumbersome, complex and costly in their construction providing only limited commercial success in the marketplace.
In light of the problems associated with the known swimming pool covers, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a support of uncomplicated construction that will suspend a tarpaulin or other sheet-like cover over a swimming pool. The cover, being suspended like the outer skin of a dome, will not sag substantially and will shed precipitation and debris throughout the period of its use.
It is another object of the invention to provide a support of the type described that can be easily assembled or disassembled by one person with minimal instruction and without tools.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in a swimming pool cover support for the purposes described which is lightweight in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and dependable in use.
Briefly, the swimming pool cover support in accordance with this invention achieves the intended objects by featuring a central hub and a plurality of knockdown arms radiating from the central hub. A special mounting bracket is secured to the outer end of each of the knockdown arms. Each of the mounting brackets has a pair of angularly joined fingers, one of which is inserted into the outer end of a knockdown arm and the other one of which is suspended beneath said outer end. The shank of a hook extends downwardly from the suspended bracket finger and terminates at an arcuate portion opening toward the junction of the bracket fingers.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.